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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (3107)	12/6/2007 9:29:59 AM
From: Mary Cluney	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

<<<sooner or later you reach the point where R&D will suffer. That is undeniable>>> I agree with you that we can use common sense to figure out things. Figuring out the risk versus reward is what everything is all about. For some people, the idealogues, they only see things on one side of the equation. By common sense, you should be able to figure out that that is wrong. WRT R&D spending the risk versus reward as I see it: On the one side - high drug prices that is hurting large numbers of people without insurance and for those with insurance who are in the donut hole where they do not have coverage for medical expenses between $2000 to $5000 per year. On the other side - how much will drug companies be hurt if prices are cut and how that may impinge on R&D spending and the possible consequences. What I think is that drug companies have a lot of money where they spend it inappropriately. One example is what I can see as waste when they advertise on network news programs for prescription drugs. Why are they spending so much money trying to sell prescription drugs to viewers. If the doctors do not know enough to prescribe the drugs, is the prescription needed. That is only one area that I can see. Just like the old saw about cock roaches - if you see one, chances are there are lot more you don't see. The question for me then becomes, if we force drug companies to reduce prices how far do we go before R&D is adversely effect. My response is that I do not think that they will be effected that much. Reduced prices are far more beneficial. Most important discoveries are now made by federally funded sources. Drug companies can not do important R&D. All they can do is make improvements on existing categories and improve their marketing.

To: Lane3 who wrote (3107)	12/6/2007 9:31:26 AM
From: Road Walker	Respond to of 42652

But sooner or later you reach the point where R&D will suffer. That is undeniable. Yeah, that's true. Sooner or later the Sun will burn out. Much closer to later than sooner.